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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 27 2020, @12:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the fact-checking dept.

Twitter adds label to Trump's misleading tweets about mail-in ballots:

Twitter said Tuesday that it added a label to President Donald Trump's tweets for containing "potentially misleading information about voting processes," a rare move that shows the social media company is taking a tougher stance against misinformation.

It's the first time that Twitter has displayed a label on Trump's tweets.

On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that "There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-in-Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent," a claim that has been debunked by fact-checkers and news organizations. He continues his remarks in another tweet, stating that it will be a "Rigged election."

A label appears under both tweets that states "Get the facts about mail-in ballots." Clicking on the warning notice directs users to a page that states that fact-checkers say there isn't any evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud. Trump also falsely states in the tweets that California will send mail-in ballots to "anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there" when only registered voters will receive ballots. States such as Oregon, Utah and Washington have long conducted elections by mail only, while states such as Nebraska allow any voter to request a ballot and vote by mail without having to provide a reason.

A Twitter spokeswoman said in a statement that the decision is in line with how the company approaches misinformation on its site, which includes adding warning notices and labels depending on the likelihood and severity of harm a tweet could cause.

Twitter's actions against Trump's tweets will also likely increase tensions between the company and conservative users, who allege that the social network suppresses their speech. Twitter has repeatedly denied those allegations. Earlier this month, Trump tweeted that the "Radical Left" is in control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google and said his administration is working on a solution.

In two tweets, Trump accused Twitter of interfering in the 2020 US presidential election.

"Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!," he tweeted.

Also at BBC News, Ars Technica, MIT Technology Review


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2020, @03:39PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27 2020, @03:39PM (#999704)

    You can not debunk a prediction.

    It's not a prediction. Mail-in ballots are *already* used (and have been for decades) in every state and territory of the United States.

    Some places, like Washington State are *all* mail in ballots.

    As such, we have lots and lots of data as to whether or not mail in voting has been even a little fraudulent.

    And it hasn't. Facts are really inconvenient aren't they?

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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday May 27 2020, @11:25PM (4 children)

    It is a statement about the future, thus a prediction. Learn to English.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @08:48AM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @08:48AM (#1000098)

      Making statements that don't comport with established facts is called one of several things: Lying, misrepresentation (intentional or otherwise), nonsense, etc.

      It really doesn't matter whether those statements are forward-looking or not.

      My English is just fine. You *appear* to just not like the things I say with it.

      Carry on.

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 28 2020, @02:17PM (2 children)

        Except it was not a statement of fact. It was both guess and opinion about the future. If you can't see that you're either terrible at English or actively lying to yourself so you can hate everything he says as much as possible. The former is easy to remedy with some gradeschool-level instruction but the latter is straight up TDS and likely incurable.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @06:21PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @06:21PM (#1000228)

          Sorry your propaganda sucks, better luck next time. Maybe stick to duping low energy MAGA turds?

          Ok ok, I know you weren't going for propaganda, but that rigid brain of yours is gonna snap one day when your beliefs run up against some basic facts even you can't ignore.

          • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 29 2020, @11:10AM

            And yours doing insane contortions to make everything Trump says the most evil thing ever makes me laugh. I laid out simple, irrefutable logic disproving TFA based on the definition of the words that were being misused and you still have to lose your shit and argue in favor of the liars.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.